Shoe drying and cleaning appliance



Sept. 18, 1962 F. DRAGOON SHOE DRYING AND CLEANING APPLIANCE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 9. 1959 [UI EHfUF [AZ/X 02/16 001V an M 7571/ 5.

Sept. 18, 1962 F. DRAGOON 3,054,129

SHOE DRYING AND CLEANING APPLIANCE Filed July 9, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 [EVEN/UT United States Patent 3,054,129 SHOE DRYING AND CLEANING APPLIANCE Feiix Dragoon, 3105 Owl Drive, Rolling Meadows, 111. Filed July a, toss, Set. No. 826,063 3 Claims. (Cl. 1531ll) This invention relates to improvements in a shoe drying and cleaning appliance, and more particularly to an appliance for location within or adjacent the entrance of a building for the purpose of cleaning and drying the soles of footwear of people entering the building or a room therein, although the invention will have other uses and purposes as will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

While the instant invention is desirable for uses at the entrances to doctors and dentists offices, rooms of other professional men, entrances to various buildings, and the like, it is particularly desirable for use both at the entrance and within buildings wherein dancing or some sporting activity occurs, such as bowling alleys. In such locations, dry shoes are an essential, since, if a bit of mud or slush is tracked in by a visitor, and a bowler for example steps in the deposited bit of moisture on the floor and acquires a wet spot on his shoe, there is grave danger of personal injury, to say nothing of the possible loss of a good score in the game. Under such conditions, where the sole of a shoe of a participant may become wet or even moistened, it is essential that it be immediately dried.

In the past, many and various types of shoe cleaning devices have been provided for entrances to buildings, activity rooms, professional ofiices, and the like. However, while these formerly known devices were effective in removing mud, slush, and other debris from the footwear of a user, they were not effective in causing rapid drying of the soles of the footwear. Further, in many cases formerly known appliances of this type were not as portable as is desired, but were designed to be built in as a permanent part of the structure and thus could not be located or changed in location as desired. In many cases these heretofore known devices were also prohibitively expensive for as universal a use as is desired.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the instant invention to provide a simple form of portable shoe cleaning and drying device, which not only cleanses the soles of footwear, but also effects an exceedingly rapid drying of any wet spots on the soles of the footwear.

Another object of the instant invention resides in the provision of a shoe cleaning and drying device so constructed that while the user is assisting the device to remove mud, debris and the like from the soles of the footwear, the device is at the same time drying the soles.

A further feature of the instant invention resides in the provision of a shoe cleaning and drying device of such construction that a forced draft of air is passed over the soles of the shoes of the user during operation of the device.

Still another feature of the instant invention resides in the provision of a shoe cleaning and drying device wherein the user stands upon an open grating or the like, upon which the shoes may be scraped, if so desired, and through which a forced draft of heated air is provided to effect very rapid drying of any wet spots upon the soles of the shoes.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a shoe cleaning and drying appliance embodying a platform having grating means upon which the user may stand, with a rotary cleansing brush projecting through the platform adjacent the grating means, and with fan means provided beneath the platform to direct a blast of forced air, heated or otherwise, through the grating means over the soles of the shoes of the user.

While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantages of the instant invention have been above pointed out, others will become apparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a shoe cleaning and drying device embodying principles of the instant invention;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially as indicated by the line I'III of FIG. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIGURE 3 is also a transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially as indicated by the line IH-HI of FIG. 4; and

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged plan sectional view of the structure of FIG. 1, with parts shown in elevation, taken immediately below the platform top of the structure.

As shown on the drawings:

The illustrated embodiment of the instant invention preferably comprises a box-like platform structure including a flat top or platform 1, and a surrounding side wall 2, which preferably slopes outwardly. All of the moving parts of the device and other mechanism may be contained within this box-like structure, which may be disposed in .any desirable location, and energized by connecting the same with any handy convenience outlet.

The platform top 1 is preferably provided with a pair of openings therein and has open gratings 3 and 4 overlying the openings, in the form shown, and which the feet of the user are placed when the device is in operation. Obviously, a single grating of a size to accommodate both feet could be utilized if so desired, but it many cases more effective results are obtained by having an individual open grating for each foot as shown in the drawings. These gratings may be of any desirable screening material, such as hardware cloth, expanded lath, barred grating, or any other satisfactory structure providing a scraping surface so that the user may scrape his feet slightly on the gratings and dislodge any slush or mud from the soles of his shoes.

Preferably between the gratings 3 and 4, the platform top 1 is provided with an elongated opening which may be closed by an arcuate cover 5 hinged as indicated at 6 so that it may be flipped open by the toe and expose a rotary cleaning brush 7 projecting through the opening. This brush may be carried on a shaft 8 beneath the platform top, and the shaft may be supported by any suitable suspension bearing means as indicated at 99 in FIG. 4. As will later appear, the brush is in operation when the device is operating, and any mud, dirt or the like above the sole of the shoe may be effectively removed by swinging the shoe into contact with the brush.

Beneath the platform top and preferably suspended therefrom on a suitable supporting bracket 10 secured to the underside of the top, is a motor 11 which may be in the form of a relatively small electrical motor. The shaft 12 of this motor extends through on both sides of the same and may be supported by bearing means 13-13 also suspended from the underside of the platform top. On each end of the shaft 12 is a fan, which are designated 14 and 15, and which are designed to supply a forced draft of air to the open gratings 3 and 4 respectively. A pulley and cable assembly, generally indicated by numeral 16, establishes a driving connection between the motor shaft 12 and the aforesaid brush shaft 8 whereby the brush 7 is also driven by the motor along with the fans 14 and 15.

In order to properly guide the air from each fan to its respective grating, like housings, generally indicated by numerals 17 and 18 are mounted beneath and to the platform top 1. Except for their allochiral characteristic, these housings or casings 17 and 18 are of identical construction.

With reference more particularly to FIGURES 2 and 4, it will be noted that each housing comprises a portion 19 to enclose the fan, a narrow channel-like portion 20 which connects the part 19 with an expanded portion 21 open at the top and beneath the respective grating.

From the showing in FIG. 2, it will be seen that the part 21 has an upwardly sloping bottom 21a which reduces its cross-sectional area, and thus along with the narrow neck portion 20 tends to increase the speed of the air passing therethrough. Each housing 17 or 18 is preferably an integral structure and may be secured to the underside of the platform top in any suitable manner by means of a laterally extending flange 22 seen in FIGS. 2 and 3.

1n order to effect very rapid drying of any wet spots on the soles of the users shoes, a heating element 23 is incorporated in each housing, preferably in the neck-like portion 22 thereof, with the heating element having a width substantially corresponding to the width of the neck-like or restricted portion 22 of the housing or casing as illustrated. These heating elements may be any suitable form of quickly responsive electrical unit, and may be energized by means of conductors 24 and 25 connected to line conductors 26 and 27 leading to the motor 11 and which are in turn connected to any suitable flip,

switch 28 connected in the usual manner to a cable 29 which may be provided with a plug for reception by any convenience outlet.

In use, the instant invention is extremely simple and,

eifective. It is only necessary for the user to touch the switch 28 with his toe, in the event the device does not remain in continuous operation, and the motor will actuate both fans as well as the rotary brush 7. Should the brush be desired to be used, it is a simple expedient to flick open the cover with the toe, and brush off dirt, mud or the like from the sides of the shoe. The user stands with one foot on each of the open gratings 3 and 4, scraping the feet on the gratings to dislodge mud and dirt if desired, and while so standing a blast of forced hot air is passed through the gratings over the sole of each shoe. These forced air drafts, especially when heated, effect very rapid drying of any wet spots that may be on the soles of a shoe. Thus, a bowler who may accidentally acquire a wet spot on the sole of one or both his shoes during a game, may step on a convenient appliance, and quickly dry the wet spot before his next turn at the alley, and thus neither endanger his score or his body by way of a possible accident due to his foot sticking during delivery of the ball. Obviously, the appliance effectively cleans the shoes of a patient or a customer entering a professional oflice or the like, and thus maintains the tidiness of the ofiice and eliminates irksome cleansing problems.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that I have provided a simple, economical and portable shoe cleaning and drying device which may be disposed in substantially any desirable location and which efiectively both cleanses and dries the soles of a users shoes in a very short period of time. The device is durable in construction, economical to operate, and also pleasing in appearance.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a shoe cleaning and drying device, a platform ineluding an open grating on which the foot of the user is placed, an open topped casing below said grating, a fan below said platform directing air along a path through said casing to said grating, means to drive said fan, and a heating element in said casing in the path of air from said fan whereby hot air is drected through said grating, said casing having a bottom wall portion bowed downwardly to receive said fan, and thereafter sloping upwardly at a level above the bottom of said fan toward said grating to increase the velocity of said air, said casing having a restricted portion above said bowed portion and in said upwardly sloping portion, said heating element being in said restricted portion.

2. In a shoe cleanng and drying device, a platform including an open grating on which the foot of the user is placed, an open-top casing below said grating and circumscribing said grating, a fan mounted in a portion of said casing, said casing enclosing said fan and a heating element in said casing between said fan and said grating in the path of air from said fan whereby hot air is directed through said grating to the underside of the foot of the user, a rotary cleaning brush, means to drive said fan, means journaling the rotary cleaning brush and secured to said platform, said platform having an opening to expose an upper portion of the rotary cleaning brush in lateral registration with said grating to aflord ready movement of the users foot from the grating to the brush, means for operating said rotary brush from the means to drive said fan, and a circuit to energize the heating element simultaneously with the operation of said fan and said rotary cleaning brush.

3. In a shoe cleaning and drying device, a platform including a pair of open gratings on which the feet of the user are placed, an open top casing below each of said gratings, and circumscribing said gratings, a fan mounted in a portion of each said casing, said casings enclosing said fans and a heating element in each of said casings between the fan and the grating in the path of air from said fan whereby hot air is directed through said gratings to the underside of the feet of the user, means to drive said fans, a rotary cleaning brush, means journaling the rotary cleaning brush and secured to said platform, said platform having an opening to expose an upper portion of the rotary cleaning brush in lateral registration with said gratings to afford ready movement of the users feet from the gratings to the brush, means for operating said rotary brush from the means to drive said fans, and a circuit to energize the heating elements simultaneously l:vithhthe operation of said fans and said rotary cleaning rus References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,340,544 Hopkins May 18, 1920 1,517,434 Kleuver Dec. 2, 1924 1,596,676 Manger Aug. 17, 1926 1,658,489 Lindstrom Feb. 7, 1928 1,667,825 Ricks et al. May 1, 1928 1,973,347 Kelly Sept. 11, 1934 2,004,488 Kelley June 11, 1935 2,779,856 Fahner Jan. 29, 1937 2,281,131 Wright Apr. 28, 1942 2,443,695 Russell June 22, 1948 2,953,805 Sevenich Sept. 27, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 319,167 Switzerland Mar. 30, 1957 549,038 Germany Apr. 22, 1932 

